Technology helps patients recover after intensive care

After heart patients leave intensive care, about 25 percent of those patients will become unstable again in the step-down unit--putting pressure on the nurses there to keep them from deteriorating. But new technology may tell nurses which patients are vulnerable to reversals much earlier than in the past. The system, made by Indiana-based OBS Medical, automatically monitors vital signs and issues an alert when a patient's heart rate or breathing starts to get out of control.